Extracted olive oil and production method thereof

ABSTRACT

To provide extracted olive oil having extremely less olive smell and excellent skin permeability, and having an extremely higher antioxidative property than that of common olive oil 
     A method for producing extracted olive oil comprising: crushing olive fruits and olive leaves; and producing the extracted olive oil from an obtained paste-like matter, wherein the olive fruits and the olive leaves are lactic fermented before or after the crushing step or during the crushing step.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to a production method of extracted oliveoil having no olive smell and having excellent skin permeability and ahigh antioxidative property, and extracted olive oil produced by themethod.

2. Related Art

Olive oil is a vegetable oil containing various active ingredients suchas oleic acid, provitanin A, vitamin B, vitamin Ks, and polyphenols, andhas recently attracted attention regarding its effect of improvinghealth conditions. Especially, olive oil has been reported to have theeffect of suppressing cancer generation based on vitamin Ks andpolyphenols, and the effect of facilitating bone formation based onprovitamin A, vitamin D, and vitamin K. Moreover, olive oil has effectsof improving the skin, such as reducing skin roughness, keeping the skinhealthy, moisturizing the skin, protecting the skin, and preventing dryskin, and has been compounded in cosmetics, medicines for external use,and the like.

Olive oil production methods have been improved in order to increase theyield point and to obtain as much oil as possible from olives. Inaddition to cold pressing having a yield of 25% to 30%, a chemicalextraction method achieving a higher yield has been developed. In thesemethods, the chemical extraction method requires an organic solventadded during production to be removed for refining by means such asdistillation, but at this time, active ingredients contained in oliveoil may also be removed. Moreover, heating which is conducted duringrefining of olive oil changes a cis fatty acid, which is effective toimprove health conditions, into a trans fatty acid, thereby reducingusefulness of the olive oil.

In recent years, as the active ingredients contained in olive oil hasbecome increasingly clear, the focus has been placed on producing oliveoil without denaturing the active ingredients. An olive oil productionmethod suitable for this purpose is cold pressing, in which olive fruitsare mechanically crushed, and then pressed at ordinary temperaturewithout preheating to obtain olive oil. Especially, in the pressingprocess as well, the temperature in a pressing machine is controlled soas not to exceed 65 to 75° C. The olive oil thus produced containsnon-denatured active ingredients described above, and change of thefatty acid does not occur.

Moreover, a production method including the steps of (a) bringing mixedoil of olive residue oil obtained by solvent-extracting an olive fruitresidue remaining after collecting olive oil and olive oil obtained bypressing olive fruits into contact with an adsorbent, (b) separating andremoving the adsorbent to bleach the mixed oil, and (c) removing anodorant from the bleached mixed oil by distillation means has beenreported as a production method of olive oil suitable as frying oil(see, e.g., Japanese Patent Application Publication No.JP-A-2000-960707). The olive oil obtained by the above production methodhas improved heat stability, oxidation stability, and preservationstability, and can be preferably used for frying.

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED BY THE INVENTION

By the way, as olive oil has been increasingly used for things otherthan food, a distinctive aroma of olive has become an issue in recentyears. Such olive smell is preferable when olive oil is used in food,but when olive oil is used in cosmetics, medicines for external use, andthe like, it cannot be said that the olive smell is preferable. Rather,the olive smell has been avoided as under-ripe smell. Especially incompounds containing a perfume as an additive, the olive smell mayinterfere with the added perfume, causing bad smell.

Moreover, olive oil does not have so high skin permeability when appliedto the skin, and the olive oil which does not permeate the skin remainson the skin surface, causing stickiness on the skin. The skin-improvingeffects of olive oil preferably appear when the olive oil is applieddirectly to the skin. Therefore, there has been a demand to improve theskin permeability of olive oil.

In view of the above problems, the inventor found that extracted oliveoil having less olive smell and excellent skin permeability can beproduced by subjecting harvested and sorted olive fruits to lacticfermentation (Japanese Patent No 3937228).

It is an object of the present invention to provide extracted olive oilhaving extremely less olive smell and excellent skin permeability, andhaving an extremely higher antioxidative property than that of commonolive oil. Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to providea method capable of producing such extracted olive oil by simpleroperation.

MEANS FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEM

As a result of keen studies, the inventor found that, surprisinglyenough, extracted olive oil having reduced olive smell and, rather,having sweet and sour fruity smell can be produced by mixing oliveleaves with olive fruits before pressing oil, and fermenting the mixtureunder prescribed conditions in a production method of extracted oliveoil including the steps of crushing olive fruits and separating oil.Moreover, it was found that this extracted olive oil has excellent skinpermeability and also an extremely high antioxidant property. Thepresent invention was completed based on these findings.

Accordingly, the present invention is a method for producing extractedolive oil by crushing olive fruits and olive leaves and producing theextracted olive oil from an obtained paste-like matter, characterized inthat the olive fruits and the olive leaves are lactic fermented beforeor after the crushing step or during the crushing step.

Preferred forms of the above production method of the extracted oliveoil are as follows:

The above production method, wherein the fermentation is continued untilolive smell generated by the olive fruits changes to fruity smell;

The above production method, wherein an amount of the olive leaves is0.1 to 10% based on a total weight of the olive fruits and the oliveleaves;

The above production method, wherein the fermentation is performed byimmersing the olive fruits and the olive leaves in saline water; and

The above production method, wherein the saline water has aconcentration of 1 to 10%.

The present invention further relates to extracted olive oil produced bythe above method of the present invention.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION

In the production method of the present invention, extracted olive oilhaving less olive smell and having pleasant fruity smell, and having anexcellent antioxidant property and high preservation stability can beproduced by simple operation by fermenting fruits together with leavesunder prescribed conditions before pressing oil from the olive fruits.This extracted olive oil has high skin permeability, and is rapidlyabsorbed and does not cause stickiness when applied. Accordingly, theextracted olive oil obtained by the production method of the presentinvention is suitably compounded in cosmetics, medicines for externaluse, and the like intended to provide the effects obtained by olive oil,especially, the skin-improving effects.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[FIG. 1]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an example of a production method ofextracted olive oil according to the present invention.

[FIG. 2]

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus used for fermentation of afirst example.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail withreference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an example of a production method ofextracted olive oil according to the present invention. Hereinafter,each step of the production method of extracted olive oil of the presentinvention will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

In the production method of the present invention, olive fruits, whichwill be a material of extracted olive oil, are first harvested. Thereare various species of olive. For example, Mission, Manzanillo, NevadiloBlanco, Picual, Hojiblanca, Arbequina, Cornicabra, Manzanilla, Gordal,Frantoio, Moraiolo, Leccino, Coratina, Ascolana Terena, Oliviere, FS17,Lucca, Koroneiki, and the like are known. These species of olive havedifferent average fruit weights and different oil contents, and theirsuitable usages are different, such as species for fruit processing,species for oil, and species for both purposes, and the like. Theextracted olive oil of the present invention can be produced from anyspecies of olive. The harvest time of olive fruits is preferably aroundDecember when olive fruits get to have a high oil content, and it ispreferable to use fully ripened olive fruits.

Next, the harvested olive fruits are sorted. Sorting is performed inorder to prevent degradation of characteristics of the producedextracted olive oil due to mixing of sick fruits and unripe fruits.Typically, defective fruits are selected visually, and removed by hand.

Conventionally, care needed to be taken so that olive leaves are notmixed during the above harvest and sorting of the olive fruits, and ifmixed, a process of removing the olive leaves was required in the caseof the present invention, however, it is not necessary to avoid mixingof the leaves, whereby the harvesting and sorting processes aresimplified.

The mixing amount of olive leaves is not specifically limited, and maybe such an amount that is unavoidably mixed during harvest.Alternatively, a relatively large amount of leaves may be activelymixed. In view of the properties, especially the antioxidative property,of the extracted olive oil to be produced, the amount of olive leaves ispreferably 0.1 to 10% based on the total weight of olive fruits andolive leaves Note that the olive leaves to be mixed are typically of thesame species as that of the olive fruits. However, the olive leaves maybe of a different species.

Then, the sorted olive fruits and the olive leaves are lactic fermented.This fermentation is performed by, for example, immersing the olivefruits in a fermentation container filled with saline water, and leavingthe fermentation container for a prescribed period. Due to immersion ofthe olive fruits in the saline water, the olive fruits are graduallylactic fermented, and proceed to decay. This fermentation reduces olivesmell of the olive fruits, and can increase fruity smell. As describedabove, the production method of the present invention is characterizedby taking out the olive fruits while the fermentation is in progress,and pressing oil. On the other hand, such a fermentation step does notexist in the conventional olive oil production, and oil is presseddirectly from sorted olive fruits.

The time required for fermentation varies depending on the size of theolive fruits, the oil content of the olive fruits, the fermentationtemperature, the presence/absence of the saline water and theconcentration thereof, the amount of olive leaves, and the like.

Especially, when the saline water concentration is high, thefermentation proceeds at a low rate, and in an extreme case, thefermentation does not proceed eventually. When the saline waterconcentration is low, on the other hand, the fermentation proceeds at ahigh rate, and it is therefore preferable to appropriately control thesaline water concentration. However, even when the fermentation isperformed in normal water without using saline water, the olive fruitsdoe not proceed to decay for quite a long time in the present invention,and management of the fermentation step is therefore simplified.

The end point of the fermentation can be confirmed by a sense of smell.The fermentation is terminated when olive smell is reduced and fruitysmell is strongly sensed. Since the olive fruits are kept firm in thefermentation in the saline water, the external appearance of the olivefruits does not change so much, and it is difficult to visuallydetermine the end point of the fermentation. The fermentation is usuallyperformed in saline water having a concentration of 1 to 10%, andpreferably 3 to 5%, and especially 4%. For example, when thefermentation is performed in 4% saline water, the time required for thefermentation is usually about 2 to 4 days.

Moreover, a polystyrene container or the like can be used as thefermentation container, but a wooden container is not preferable sinceit may be contaminated with germs.

After the fermentation is terminated, the olive fruits and the oliveleaves are washed to remove salt derived from the saline water, and arethen crushed. Crushing can be performed by a common method, and theolive fruits and the olive leaves become a paste-like matter bycrushing.

Next, the paste-like matter is subjected to solid-liquid separation andoil-water separation. The paste-like matter is separated into a solidand a liquid by the solid-liquid separation, and the liquid is separatedinto water and coarse extracted olive oil by the oil-water separation.If heating is performed in the separations by using means such asdistillation, active ingredients contained in the paste-like matter maybe decomposed. Therefore, both separations are performed according to amethod which does not involve heating, for example, a centrifugationmethod, a pressing method, or a percolation method.

The coarse extracted olive oil thus obtained is filtered to removeimpurities, whereby extracted olive oil is obtained. The filtration ispreferably performed by gravity filtration. However, pressure filtrationmay be performed in order to reduce the filtration time.

The obtained extracted olive oil has no or only slight under-ripe olivesmell. Rather, it has sweet and sour fruity smell. Moreover, theobtained extracted olive oil has high skin permeability, and whenapplied to the skin, is rapidly absorbed without causing stickiness.Moreover, the antioxidative property is very high, and oxidation anddegradation of olive oil do not proceed even when the olive oil is leftat ordinary temperature or a somewhat high temperature.

An example of performing fermentation after sorting olive fruits wasdescribed above. However, the fermentation may be performed at any timebefore filtration of olive fruits and olive leaves. For example, apaste-like matter resulting from crushing olive fruits and olive leavesmay be fermented, or olive fruits and olive leaves may be fermentedduring crushing.

EXAMPLE

Although the present invention will be described below based on specificexamples, the present invention is not limited to these examples.

Example 1 Production of Extracted Olive Oil

Fermentation of olive fruits and leaves was performed by using anapparatus shown in FIG. 2.

Mission olive fruits were harvested in mid December and sorted, and 30kg of olive fruits 2 (average fruit weight: 2.7 g; and oil content: 18%)and 1 kg of olive leaves 2′ of the same species were placed in a 50 Lpolystyrene fermentation container 1. 4% of saline water 5 was pouredinto the fermentation container 1 so that all the olive fruits 2 and theolive leaves 2′ were completely immersed. Thereafter, a vinyl sheet 3was placed over the fermentation container 1, and the vinyl sheet 3 wasfixedly fastened to the fermentation container 1 with a rope 4. Then,water 6 is stored on the vinyl sheet 3, a weight is placed thereon, andthe fermentation container 1 was left for fermentation. Three dayslater, it was confirmed that the aroma of olive fruits had changed fromolive smell to fruity smell, and the fermentation was terminated at thattime.

After the fermentation was terminated, the olive fruits 2 and the oliveleaves 2′ were washed with water and crushed, and the resultantpaste-like matter was centrifugated first for separation into a solidand a liquid, and the obtained liquid was then separated into water andoil. The obtained oil was gravity filtered by using a filter paperhaving a pore size of 1-5 μm (made by Advantec, Ltd.), whereby 5.1 kg ofintended extracted olive oil was obtained. The obtained extracted oliveoil had almost no olive smell, and had fruity smell.

Example 2

Similar operation to that of the first example was performed to obtainextracted olive oil, except that the amount of olive leaves of the firstexample was changed to 0.5 kg. The obtained extracted olive oil hadalmost no olive smell, and had fruity smell.

Example 3

Similar operation to that of the first example was performed to obtainextracted olive oil, except that the amount of olive leaves of the firstexample was changed to 3 kg. The obtained extracted olive oil had almostno olive smell, and had fruity smell.

Text Example 1 Evaluation of Stickiness and Skin Permeability

The extracted olive oils obtained in the first to third examples and anormal olive oil produced without fermentation (first comparativeexample) were applied to the faces of a plurality of subjects to examinethe presence or absence of stickiness and the skin permeability.

As a result, regarding the olive oil of the comparative example, all thesubjects answered that there was stickiness and the olive oil remainedon the skin. Regarding the extracted olive oils of the first to thirdexamples of the present invention, on the other hand, all the subjectsanswered that there was no stickiness and the olive oil was rapidlyabsorbed.

Test Example 2 Evaluation of Preservation Stability

The extracted olive oils obtained in the first to third examples, thenormal olive oil produced without fermentation (first comparativeexample), and an extracted olive oil prepared by fermenting only theolive fruits without mixing the olive leaves in the first example(second comparative example) were provided for the preservationstability test.

The result showed that the second comparative example exhibited higherpreservation stability than that of the first comparative example, andthe first to third examples of the present invention exhibited higherpreservation stability than that of the second comparative example.

It is considered that the high preservation stability exhibited by theextracted olive oil produced by the present invention results fromdissolving of polyphenols, especially oleuropein, into the olive oil.

1. A method for producing extracted olive oil comprising: crushing olivefruits and olive leaves; and producing the extracted olive oil from anobtained paste-like matter, wherein the olive fruits and the oliveleaves are lactic fermented before or after the crushing step or duringthe crushing step.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein thefermentation is continued until olive smell generated by the olivefruits changes to fruity smell.
 3. The method according to claim 1,wherein an amount of the olive leaves is 0.1 to 10% based on a totalweight of the olive fruits and the olive leaves.
 4. The method accordingto claim 1, wherein the fermentation is performed by immersing the olivefruits and the olive leaves in saline water.
 5. The method according toclaim 4, wherein the saline water has a concentration of 1 to 10%. 6.Extracted olive oil produced by the method according to claim
 1. 7.Extracted olive oil produced by the method according to claim
 2. 8.Extracted olive oil produced by the method according to claim
 3. 9.Extracted olive oil produced by the method according to claim
 4. 10.Extracted olive oil produced by the method according to claim 5.